Untreated ventricular septal defect (VSD) is an important cause of congestive heart failure in early infancy. Growth is impaired in this population, and surgical closure is challenging because of congestion in the lungs, making infants prone to respiratory infection, and because of their poor nutritional status. The aim of this study is to share our experience with percutaneous VSD closure in patients under 1 year of age. Patients with hemodynamically significant left-to-right shunt, less than 1 year of age, and with VSD diameter ≤ 6 mm were retrospectively included in the study between December 2014 and January 2017...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: There is an increase in the number of patients worldwide with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). Current medical practice guidelines warn against performing bioimpedance analysis (BIA) in this group of patients in order to avoid any electromagnetic interference. These recommendations restrict using the BIA in patients undergoing heart failure or with nutrition disorders in whom BIA could be of major interest in detecting peripheral congestion and to help guide treatment...

Heart failure (HF) is a common health problem worldwide, including in Japan. Unfortunately, patient outcomes remain poor, with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 50%. Therefore, we need to assess the precise conditions, including cardiac function, in patients with HF, particularly in the elderly. We performed a multifaceted assessment in an elderly patient with HF on admission and at discharge using eight different evaluations (the mean life expectancy using the Seattle Heart Failure Model (SHFM), the severity of dementia, nutrition, medication adherence, biomarker (the level of brain natriuretic peptide in blood), sociality, performance and comorbidity)...

PURPOSE: To examine the association of source of social support and size of social support network on sedentary behavior among older adults. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003 to 2006. PARTICIPANTS: 2519 older adults (60+ years). MEASURES: Sedentary behavior was assessed via accelerometry over a 7-day period. Social support was assessed via self-report...

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition in heart failure (HF) is related to altered intestinal function, which could be due to hemodynamic changes. We investigated the usefulness of novel nutritional indexes in relation to hemodynamic parameters. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 139 HF patients with reduced ejection fraction who underwent right heart catheterization. We investigated correlations between right side pressures and nutritional indexes, which include controlling nutritional (CONUT) score and geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI)...

PURPOSE: A cross sectional study was designed to examine the relationship of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with comorbidities of cardiovascular and renal conditions in the representative population using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2005-2008. METHODS: Participants (≥40 years) who underwent retinal photography were included. Early AMD was defined by the retinal digital images. The comorbidities were self-reported stroke and heart disease (HD), including angina pectoris (AP), coronary heart disease (CHD), congestive heart failure (CHF), and myocardial infarction (MI)...

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the specific differential association between non-bouted, lifestyle physical activities (vs. structured exercise; i.e., bouted physical activity) on retinopathy prevalence among a national sample of the broader U.S. adult population. METHODS: Data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used to identify 1501 adults, between 40 and 85years. Bouted and non-bouted physical activities were assessed using objective accelerometer monitoring...

BACKGROUND: Food insecurity, the uncertain ability to access adequate food, can limit adherence to dietary measures needed to prevent and manage cardiometabolic conditions. However, little is known about temporal trends in food insecurity among those with diet-sensitive cardiometabolic conditions. METHODS: We used data from the Continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2012, analyzed in 2015-2016, to calculate trends in age-standardized rates of food insecurity for those with and without the following diet-sensitive cardiometabolic conditions: diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, and obesity...

This Data in Brief contains results from three different survey logistic regression models comparing risks of self-reported diagnoses of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases among smokers of menthol and non-menthol cigarettes. Analyses employ data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles administered between 1999 and 2012, combined and in subsets. Raw data may be downloaded from the National Center for Health Statistics. Results were not much affected by which covariates were included in the models, but depended strongly on the NHANES cycles included in the analysis...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a short-term yoga-based lifestyle intervention program in lowering Framingham Risk Score (FRS) and estimated 10-year cardiovascular risk. METHODS: This was a single-arm, pre-post interventional study including data from a historical cohort with low to moderate risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). It was conducted in a tertiary-care hospital. Participants with low (0 or 1 CVD risk factors) to moderately high risk (10-year risk between 10% and 20% and two or more CVD risk factors) were included...

High sodium, high glucose, and obesity are important risk factors for age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVDs), stroke, and cancer. Coupling factor 6 (CF6) is released from vascular endothelial cells and functions as a circulating peptide that inhibits prostacyclin and nitric oxide generation by intracellular acidosis. High glucose elevates CF6 by activation of protein kinase C and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, whereas CF6 causes type 2 diabetes mellitus, resulting in a high glucose vicious cycle...

Dietary management of heart failure (HF) has largely been focused on sodium and fluid restrictions. Although safety and efficacy of these interventions in HF remain unclear, a daily sodium intake between 2000 and 3000 mg/day appears to be safe in these patients. Ongoing clinical research will inform on the safety and efficacy of a more restrictive sodium intake to less than 1500 mg/day. Data shows that routine fluid restriction in HF regardless of symptoms may be unnecessary; however, in patients with signs of congestion, fluid restriction to 2...

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the specific association between a fitness-fatness index (FFI) and all-cause mortality among a national sample of US adults with coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, or myocardial infarction. This FFI has recently emerged in the literature as a novel index of health. HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesize that FFI will be inversely associated with mortality risk. METHODS: The FFI was calculated as cardiorespiratory fitness divided by waist-to-height ratio...

BACKGROUND: Poor nutritional status has been associated with a higher risk of morbidity and mortality in general surgery patients; however, outcomes in vascular surgery patients are unclear. Our goal was to determine the effect of poor nutritional status on perioperative morbidity and mortality after lower extremity bypass (LEB). METHODS: The 2005-2012 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was analyzed to determine associated complications, mortality, length of stay (LOS), and readmissions for patients with hypoalbuminemia (serum albumin <3...

OBJECTIVE: Refeeding syndrome occurs when reinstating nutrition to severely malnourished patients. It can sometimes be fatal, particularly as a result of cardiac involvement such as congestive heart failure and arrhythmias. The aim of this study was to report a case of cardiogenic shock that occurred during refeeding in a patient with anorexia nervosa (AN). The cardiogenic shock was due to a previously unrecognized mechanism, namely a transient left midventricular obstruction that completely disappeared after treatment...

BACKGROUND: After older adults experience episodes of poor health or are hospitalized, they may not return to premorbid or prehospitalization eating behaviors. Furthermore, poor nutrition increases hospital readmission risk, but evidence-based interventions addressing these risks are limited. OBJECTIVE: This pilot study's objective was to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial assessing a post-discharge home-delivered meal program's impact on older adults' nutritional intake and hospital readmissions and to assess patient acceptability and satisfaction with the program...

PURPOSE: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used to treat pain, inflammation, and fever in the USA. Unfortunately, NSAIDs have been associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, especially among NSAID users with established cardiovascular disease (CVD). In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released an initial warning regarding NSAID use and CVD risk, and recently, in July 2015, released an updated statement strengthening this initial warning...

The quantity of formalized nutrition education is shrinking in curricula of health professions, such as physicians, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists. The current nutrition education being taught in U.S. schools of healthcare professionals does not appropriately prepare students for identification of patients at nutrition risk or management of undernourished hospitalized patients with specialized nutrition therapies. In U.S. schools of pharmacy, parenteral nutrition is considered a highly specialized and advanced practice so little time is devoted to this area and more attention is focused on chronic disease state management (ie, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and congestive heart failure)...